Local government saves millions in infrastructure investment

The challenge

A local government had to move a high-voltage power transmission line because a new residential area was going to be built. It was estimated that this would cost a maximum of seven million euros, a sum that was confirmed by the network operator. The alderman responsible obtained support for this from the city council. Shortly afterwards, the network operator unexpectedly increased the estimated cost to 17 million euros. This was a financial problem for the local government and a political one for the alderman, but the network operator nevertheless stood by the increased amount.

IvCB’s approach

After a thorough analysis of the force field, pressure was applied to the network operator by the Ministry of Finance (which holds 100% of the shares in the network operator) and the Office of Energy Regulation (which supervises the energy market). IvCB held several meetings with both parties. The decisive factor was the conflict between the sudden increase and good corporate governance on the part of the network operator. The arguments were set down in position papers that were tailored to each stakeholder separately.

The result for the client

The right arguments were used to apply the desired pressure to the network operator, which resulted in the increase being withdrawn. In this way the local authority was able to save millions of euros.